Town of Rocky Mount and Franklin County reach ‘historic agreements’

ROCKY MOUNT, Va. (WDBJ) - “Historic agreements” are what Franklin County and the Town of Rocky Mount came to Tuesday night.

Both are on the same page with a boundary line adjustment. Town limits will extend on four sides into Franklin County. It will bring more than $150 million worth of land into the town.

The town is also agreeing to nearly double waste water capacity for Franklin County. It will help those who live in those areas by adding trash pickup.

“Most of the people that are in the area that’s being adjusted already receive water, and so it’ll also add for trash pickup to the for those citizens,” explained Holland Perdue, Mayor of Rocky Mount.

Franklin County will make a one-time payment of $200,000 to the Town of Rocky Mount in return.

“That’s going to increase to 700,000 gallons a day at the Summer View Park, which will hopefully allow for them to attract more businesses to come,” said Mayor Perdue.

Along with transfers of property, Franklin County is gifting $800,000 to support Rocky Mount Volunteer Fire Department’s needs. They’ll also pay over half of the costs for equipment after 2031.

The funds include helping them replace fire trucks that are over 25 years old.

“This was a global agreement that both sides came to the table, and it was voted unanimously by both sides. So, I think that speaks volumes to where we are,” explained Mayor Perdue.

The Town will advertise the boundary line adjustment and hold a public hearing before they make a final vote on this agreement. We’ll keep you updated on that date.